Estonian language digital textbook - the project that

initiated Open Access ideas

Elena Sipria-Mironov

Project Manager

University of Tartu Library

Estonia

Conquest of Ararat in1829

Reise zum Ararat. Th. 1-2 / von Dr. Friedrich Parrot …

(Berlin, 1834)

The main goal of Estonian language textbook project

  fulfilling students need for textbooks

which are sold out

not to bring students away from printed books, but rather to fulfill the lack of availability of textbooks in the library

What is the difference between an e-textbook and a paper textbook?

E-textbook offers much more possibilities:

a search-in-the text function it is easy to mark or copy the text an e-textbook the reader can use an

electronic bookmark internal and external links in the text and

various multimedia possibilities

The government is paying three times for the same textbook:

I. The authors are usually faculty members whose salary comes from a university budget

II. Funding publishing by paying entirely or partially for the printing, editing, authors’ fees etc

III. Library’s book buying budget consists of university’s and government’s funds

The options of how to provide Estonian language textbooks to students in University of Tartu

2008 - Tartu University Library chose to use the Ebrary platform

publishing in institutional repository on DSpace receiving the feedback offering professors statistics about the usage of their

digital study materials

Library is willing to help university authors in order to make their textbook publishing more effective and successful

Negotiation and submission process

Author + publishersagreement

questionnaire

Contract E-textbook

A compensation system

we cannot afford paying for the publishers

we are paying for authors for their book license

three paper books’ prices

E-textbooks

Ebrary IR on DSpace

Problems Positive aspects

copyright issues agreements with

publishers potential cases of

plagiarism an access of

special-needs students to textbooks

E-textbook: saves resources is easily accessed offers a flexible option

to modify the text would resolve the

issue of a chronic lack of textbooks

Cultural value

a small language can be a benefit it could also be a national pride long-term preservation guarantees

A textbook has become a valuable part in an academic CV

An e-textbook must be edited and peer-reviewed An e-textbook has a systemic structure It is advisable to include exercises that support learning and

guidelines for teaching in an e-textbook An e-textbook incorporates links for navigation between

different chapters and parts of the textbook It is advisable to use multimedia possibilities in an e-

textbook An e-textbook must be in the most universal format (EPUB,

PDF, HTML etc.).

We believe that

It might be beneficial to migrate or develop from closed institutional collection to nationwide Open Access collection in order to receive financial support from the government

The University of Tartu Press has new directions towards OA academic

publishing

Thank you!

Tänan!

Contact Specialist:Signe Bachmannsigne.bachmann@ut.ee